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Thursday, 16 February 2012
Page: 1656

Labor Party Leadership

Mr PYNE (Sturt—Manager of Opposition Business) (14:37): My question is to the Prime Minister. I remind the Prime Minister of the question that Laurie Oakes put to the foreign minister yesterday, 'Do you think that Julia Gillard was distributing polling against you?' to which the foreign minister replied, 'Well, that is a matter for history and these are events of 18 months ago and I think these are questions to appropriately put to other people.' So I ask the Prime Minister: will the Prime Minister assure the Australian people and her foreign minister that she did not use polling against her former leader?

Mr Albanese: Mr Speaker—

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the House will resume his seat. I would ask the member for Sturt to repeat the last part of his question.

Mr PYNE: So I ask the Prime Minister: will the Prime Minister assure the Australian people and her foreign minister that she did not use polling against her former leader?

The SPEAKER: The question is out of order because it does not refer to the Prime Minister's ministerial responsibilities. The member for Page will resume her seat; I am listening to the honourable the Manager of Opposition Business.

Mr Pyne: I put it to you, Mr Speaker, that it is in order for two reasons: firstly, because it relates to statements the foreign minister made about the Prime Minister yesterday; and, secondly, it goes very much to the dysfunction evident in the government, which the Prime Minister should want to put to rest.

The SPEAKER: The Manager of Opposition Business has made his point. I call the honourable member for Page.